It's only going to last a couple of weeks between now and the new year, but the Senate opens for business again today with a decidedly different scenario in place than when it went on recess in October for the midterm elections. As everyone knows, the do-nothing Republican Congress was sent an abundantly clear message on November 7, when voters elected a significant Democratic majority to the House of Representatives and voted Democrats into six new seats in the Senate, giving them control of that body as well.

While Republicans will still be the majority party when the Senate reconvenes today -- thus, giving them a last chance to do absolutely nothing but George W. Bush's bidding -- they do so with the other side of the aisle knowing that a filibuster will work on everything and that anything Democrats don’t want, isn’t going to happen.

So what will get discussed during this abbreviated lame-duck session?

Well, on Thursday, Bush sent the nomination of John Bolton to be the top U.S. diplomat at the United Nations back to the Senate for reconsideration. At the same time, he has also called on the Congress to validate his illegal domestic spying program before Democrats take over in January.

Dick Durbin (D-IL), the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, reinforced my belief that the chances are better that I will become Britney Spears' next temporary husband, than they are that these two things will go through.